In wake of teen's death, Tennessee calls for nationwide recall of deadly guardrail

As Tennessee plans to spend millions of dollars to repair and replace most of the 1,700 to 1,800 X-LITE guardrail ends on state roads, officials in other states have begun confirming deaths tied to the same model.
Travis Dorman

Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a joint legislative resolution calling for a nationwide recall of an allegedly defective guardrail end tied to at least 11 traffic deaths across the country, including four in Tennessee.

The resolution, which received the governor's signature Wednesday, marks Tennessee as the first state to urge federal officials to remove all X-LITE guardrail components.

"Tennessee is the first state to take a stand," said Lenoir City resident Steven Eimers. "Hopefully this will prompt more states to take action."

He thanked the joint House resolution's sponsor, Jimmy Matlock, R-Lenoir City and numerous other legislators for their leadership and quick action since the measure was introduced about five weeks ago.

Tennessee became the first state last year to announce plans to remove most of the X-LITE components from its roadways, totaling roughly 1,800 units, which account for about 7 percent of all guardrails across the state.

Lauren Beuttel, 21, and Jacob Davidson, 18, were killed on June 29, 2016 when a vehicle driven Davidson struck an X-LITE guardrail end in Cumberland County. The guardrail to perform and impaled the vehicle, state officials said.(Photo: Submitted by Ladeana Gambill)

Another 13 states have made similar pledges since to remove some, if not all X-LITE guardrail ends.

"This is something that's going to save lives," Eimers said.

In an April 2017 letter to the Federal Highway Administration, Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer said X-LITE manufacturer Lindsay Transportation Solutions couldn't resolve unclear installation instructions, and that the guardrail's pieces had separated in crashes, resulting in vehicles being speared.

The joint House resolution, signed by Haslam on Wednesday, also calls on Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to rescind the FHWA's reimbursement eligibility letter for the product.

Such letters allow states that use the product to receive federal infrastructure funds.

The letter is not required for federal reimbursement, but states rely heavily on the letters to determine which products to use.

In a written statement to the USA TODAY NETWORK-TENNESSEE, Lindsay Transportation Solutions maintained that there is no data to suggest its X-LITE guardrail ends are unsafe, and it criticized legislators for not giving company representatives an opportunity to be heard.

"It is concerning that Tennessee legislators have used their position to spread fear about a road safety product that has reduced the number and severity of injuries sustained in automobile accidents," the statement reads. "Further, it is unacceptable that they have acted without consulting publicly available performance data of the X-LITE, the Federal Highway Administration or even road safety experts. Lindsay Transportation Solutions would have welcomed the opportunity to share the facts with the Tennessee General Assembly, but we were never invited or contacted."